9149
tubewells contaminated with arsenic in C'nawabganj - New Nation (Dhaka), 23
May 2003. "Arsenic situation has turned alarming in
the district with increased contamination in underground water. According to the
concerned sources, out of 47024 tubewells 9149 tube wells have been affected
with arsenic contamination in the district. Although affected tubewells have
been being marked red, people are yet to abandon drinking water of the affected
tubewells as they have no alternative source of pure water. An SDC-WATSAN
partnership project tested 48,426 tubewells and detected 1165 tubewells in Sadar
upazila, 5299 in Shibganj , 74 in Nachole, 799 in Gomostapur, 154 in Bholahat
and 1658 in the purashabha area affected with arsenic. The worst affected areas
are in Chapainawabganj Pourashabha and Shibganj upazila.

"Bangladesh Arsenic Mitigation water supply project (BAMWSP)
has taken up a scheme to set up water treatment plant in Chapainawabganj
Pourashabha at a cost of about Tk. 22 crore for supplying arsenic free water,
sources in the Chapainawabganj Municipality office said. Feasibility of the
project has already been made. The World Bank will donated 80 per cent of the
total expenditure, the source added. According to the Project, water will be
lifted from the river Mohananda and purified in an overhead tank. The project is
likely to be executed in two phases. In the first phase, the arrangement will be
made to supply arsenic free water through the existing supply system. It will
take 6 to 9 months. The second phase will be executed in 3 years and after the
completion of the second phase arsenic free water will be supplied 24 hours.
Only 2 lakh people of the Chapainawabganj Pourashabha area are going to be
benefited after the completion of the project but what will happen to the lot of
the rest 12 lakh people in the district, people ponder."

WB to
fund water plant in arsenic-hit Chapainawabganj - Daily Star, 17 May. "The
World Bank (WB) will provide Tk 26.5 crore for setting up a water treatment
plant at Chaipainawabganj municipality which has the worst arsenic contamination
of groundwater in the country. Officials of the WB and Bangladesh Arsenic
Mitigation Water Supply Project (BAMWSP) are now finalising an agreement in this
regard. The plant, to be installed as a BAMWSP project, will treat water
from the nearby Mahananda river, a tributary of the Padma, and supply it to
about 2.43 lakh consumers at the district town. The decision was taken on the
basis of feasibility studies in the last few years. In phase one of the project,
water supply would be raised to 10,000 cubic metres per day from 4,000 cubic
metres now. In two years, supply will be raised to 100,000 cubic metres per day.
Consumers would then get water supply for 20 hours a day against eight hours at
present. Phase two of the project envisages privatisation of operation and
maintenance of the plant and water supply system. Under the project, water
supply network would be expanded to cover the entire 25-square kilometre
municipal area. About 40 per cent people of the town now get water supply from
the municipality. Experts testing water samples from deep tube-wells (DTWs) at
Chaipainawabganj in had detected more than 0.2 mg/L of arsenic in water. This
was far beyond permissible level, which is 0.05 mg/L. The finding was kept a
secret till The Daily Star ran a report on it in April 2001. Water from
seven out of 17 deep tube-wells of the municipality was found contaminated much
above the permissible level Two deep tube-wells were sealed off recently as
arsenic level was more than 1 mg/L. Besides, a recent survey shows water from
about 60 per cent of more than 2,000 shallow tube-wells installed at private
initiative in the town is also contaminated. The municipal areas with
contaminated water include Namang-shukaraboti, Nakhrajpara, Durga-pur,
Kathalbagicha, Haluabandha, Nayansukla and Chandlai."

Water
watch protocol finalized - By Naimul Haq, 13 May 2003. NFB. "In
a big step forward to fight the dreaded arsenic contamination of groundwater,
the long awaited 'water quality surveillance protocol for rural water supply
options in Bangladesh' has been finalised. Already approved by the local
government ministry, the Department of Public Health Engineering (DPHE) would
start implementing the protocol shortly, officials said yesterday. The protocol
provides for monitoring and periodic tests of water quality in various drinking
water options."

British
HC verdict: Each arsenic victim likely to get £ 5,000 – New Nation
(Bangladesh), 11 May 2003. [The
statement made in the headline is, so far as I can tell, untrue, and the result
of poor reporting of remarks made at a press conference by representatives of
Bangladesh organizations with an interest in the lawsuit]

People of 2
districts drink poison with water - New Nation (Dhaka), 10 May 2003. "Poor
people in two southern districts [Barisal and Faridpur] having no access to safe
potable water, drinking poison with water and inching towards dire consequences
of arsenic. These people, who are already fighting poverty, also have no access
to treatment to beat the arsenic poisoning. The people with arsenicosis in
Barisal and Faridpur are heading towards immature end of their life since they
have no ability to get the medicines from markets, local sources said. Experts
say there is no permanent answer to arsenic contamination yet, but some
physicians prescribe increased protein intake, skin ointments (Salicylic Acid)
and anti-oxidant tablet (Rex) as interim treatments to arsenicosis, a ground
water chemical contamination that has posed a serious threat to safe drinking
water for millions. Rizia Begum (40) of village Balihatibazar under Bhanga
upazila, tested arsenicosis positive just five months ago with itching in skins
and pain in muscles. She told a group of visiting journalists recently that she
was gradually getting weaker. An uncertain future is haunting her since she is
not getting any treatment. Since she tested arsenicosis positive, she has been
taking 'safe water' from an Arsenic-Iron Removal Plant (AIRP) provided by the
NGO Forum for Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation and the Japanese NGO Hunger
Free World. 'But the pain is still existing. I want to buy some medicine. To
that end I am saving Taka one or two from earning of my tennage son,' Rizia
said. Many hit by arsenic in Khudrakati Village under Babuganj upazila in
Barisal district echoed the concern of Rizia saying they are also drinking the
poison for the past three year since they have no access to safe water. The
government has made some arrangement of safe water but that too short to meet
the requirement, she added. Women arsenicosis patients in the village said they
could get medicines from a nearby upazila hospital earlier spending Taka 50, but
that too has gone because there is no supply in the hospital now. Some of them
said to afford Taka 50 a week is very difficult for them. 'We buy ointment
to reduce skin itching and the tablets to check muscle pull. But this medicine
is now in short supply, which has increased our suffering manifold,' Aklima
Akter, a student of class ten and also a patient said. Aklima said the people of
her village no more drinking water from tubewells contaminated with arsenic
poison. They are taking rain water or water from deep tubewells.
'The situation is now a bit better than that of the previous years,' she said,
adding that they now want medicine and better treatment of the disease that
silently killing people."

Scientists
facing action over Bangladesh water survey - By Nikki Tait, FT Syndication
Service - 10 May 2003. NFB. "LONDON: A damages
action that alleges British government-backed scientists were negligent when
they assessed groundwater supplies in Bangladesh, is to go ahead after a ruling
in the High Court in London late last week. The decision could have implications
for hundreds of Bangladeshis who claim to be suffering from arsenic poisoning.
It is also likely to have a broader impact on the potential liability of other
scientists employed on aid projects in developing countries. "This is of
great concern to the scientific community and those who fund it," one
lawyer told the court yesterday."

Arsenic
victims win right to trial - BBC, 8 May 2003. "Lawyers
representing some 750 victims of arsenic poisoning in Bangladesh have won the
first stage of a legal battle in London in which they are accusing a British
survey organisation of negligence. The High Court ruled that the British
Geological Survey had a case to answer over claims it should have carried out
tests for arsenic in a 1992 survey on the toxicity of Bangladesh well water. The
judge, Mr Justice Simon, ruled that the case should go to full trial. In its
attempt to have the case dismissed, the BSG said its survey was part of an
irrigation project, and had nothing to do with drinking water. Some reports
suggest arsenic in groundwater in Bangladesh and eastern India has affected
millions of people, and caused up to 3,000 deaths a year."

Arsenic
mitigation: Report at cabinet meeting soon - New Nation (Dhaka), 3
May. "LGRD and Cooperative Minister Abdul Mannan
Bhuiyan on Saturday said that a secretarial-level report on mitigation of
arsenic would be placed at the cabinet meeting soon for approval. He was
speaking at an inaugural session of a seminar on 'Safe Water and Sanitation:
Emerging Challenge in Bangladesh', organised by Dhaka Ahsania Mission at its
conference room in the city yesterday…. [He] said, "It is expected that
the arsenic problem will be solved when work will be done according to
recommendation of secretary-level committee." He said arsenic in water is a
big problem for the people. "Some parts of the country are being affected
by the arsenic which causing harmful for the people especially for the
unconsciousness and poor people," he said. He warned the people not to
drink the water with arsenic and use alternative sources of water…."

VMS6 and
clean water can be effective treatment for arsenic victims: study - 6 Apr
03. NFB. "A combination of antioxidants (VMS6)
and clean water could be an effective treatment for the arsenic victims, reports
BSS. This was revealed in a study on "Control Clinical Trial of Antioxidant
in Arsenicosis in Bangladesh" conducted by a research group of the
Bangladesh Arsenic Control Society (BACS). VMS6 is a mixture caplet of six
vitamins and minerals (beta carotene, ascorbic acid, alpha tocopherol, folic
acid, zinc and selenium)."

Arsenic
contamination detected in 597 tubewells - 2 Mar 03. NFB. "...Public
Health Engineering Department sources said water of 1738 tubewells were examined
in the area under Arsenic Mitigation Water Supply Project and it was detected in
597 tubewells. Besides, arsenic contamination has been detected in the waters of
two deep tubewells of the water supply system of the pourashava. Locals said
these tubewells have been sealed off without any alternative arrangement of
supply of pure water in the area. The sources said some 38 arsenic related
disease affected people have been identified in the area."

Arsenic
detected in tube-wells water - 1 Mar 03. NFB. "Arsenic
beyond limit has been detected in the waters of 15,000 tube-wells in Rajarhat
and Ulipur upazilas of the district. A total of 387 people have been identified
as attacked with arsenic related disease. After the detection of arsenic in
tube-wells waters, no pragmatic measures have been undertaken to find a solution
to the menace during the last one year except the work of marking the tube-wells
red and green under Arsenic Mitigation Water Supply Project through an NGO in
collaboration with Public Health Engineering Department. The work involved lakhs
of taka."

Dupitila
formation free of arsenic - 1 Mar 03. NFB. "Experts
said here on Thursday that extensive mapping of Duptila formation, an arsenic
free geological layer, should be done for safe groundwater extraction in the
country. Hydro geologist and executive member Bangladesh Geological Society
Nurun Nabi told BSS that the geologists are almost unanimous that country's
Dupitila formations are free from arsenic contamination."

Quest
for arsenic-free drinking water - Draft policy may be okayed Monday by
Naimul Haq, Daily Star 10 May 2003. "The policy
highlights emergency steps to provide alternative safe drinking water options to
arsenic-affected areas, rehabilitation of serious arsenic patients and research
on arsenic in food chain, sources in the Local Government and Rural Development
Ministry (LGRD) said. It would set a guideline for mitigating the effect of
arsenic on humans and environment in a suitable way. Under the policy, all
tubewells and irrigation wells will be screened and monitored regularly to
identify which have been contaminated. Arsenic patients and people at risk will
also be identified to provide remedy...."

Arsenic warning to watercress gatherers. 28 January 2003. [Original article
no longer online - but see Arsenic
removal: aquatic plants a potential low-cost solution - at Source Water
& Sanitation News] "Aquatic plants may provide an
answer to problems with arsenic-contaminated drinking water, Hortresearch
scientist Brent Robinson said yesterday…. Dr Robinson said a survey of aquatic
plants from geothermal regions around Taupo and Rotorua, and the Waikato River,
had shown they were accumulating concentrations of up to 3000 parts per million
of arsenic. "This may be a low-cost means of improving public health in
countries like Bangladesh and West Bengal in India, where there are high levels
of arsenic in the water that can result in widespread poisoning...." Dr
Robinson said the survey could also have health implications for New Zealanders
who gathered large quantities of watercress for eating in streams fed with
geothermal water.

Irrigation taints
Bangladeshi rice with arsenic - food, as well as drinking water contaminated
with poison. 22 November 2002. By Tom Clarke. (c) WHO/TDR. Arsenic
is getting into rice, Bangladesh's staple crop, through irrigation water pumped
from contaminated soils, researchers have found. Another study shows that the
act of pumping water for irrigation can raise its arsenic levels. The findings
worsen the outlook for Bangladesh's water safety crisis.... Where there were
arsenic-tainted irrigation pumps, [Meharg & Rahman] found high levels of
arsenic in soils. Rice from contaminated regions, contained dangerous levels of
arsenic. Rice from elsewhere did not. Three samples contained more than 1.7
milligrams of arsenic per kilogram of rice. The maximum safe level for food in
Australia ... is one milligram per kilogram. Rice comprises 73% of a
Bangladeshi's caloric intake and arsenic is in much of the country's
groundwater.

Pumping makes a big difference - At one experimental site in
Bangladesh, Harvey's team found that irrigation wells could be compounding the
arsenic problem as they draw water through aquifers.... When water rich in
organic matter flows through aquifers it feeds bacteria; higher levels of
arsenic result, they find. Eventually pumping could remove arsenic from
aquifers if it draws clean water through. But the finding points to the need to
understand the effect of irrigation pumping on arsenic contamination.
"Hopefully these findings could be useful for future planning of
wells," says Harvey.

Arsenic
gene cleans up - researchers create a new strategy for removing arsenic from
soil. October 14, 2002 Geology News, The Geological Society of London.
"Researchers create a new strategy for removing arsenic from soil. A team
of researchers in the USA has developed the first transgenic system for removing
arsenic from the soil by using genetically modified plants. The new system could
have a major impact on arsenic pollution, which is a dramatic and growing threat
to the environment and to human and animal health worldwide. The scientists were
able to insert two genes from the common bacterium Escherichia coli that allow a
member of the mustard family called Arabidopsis to tolerate arsenic, which is
usually lethal to plants. Arabidopsis can then remove arsenic from the soil and
transport it to the plant's leaves in a form which is far less biologically
available in the environment."

Arsenic
Public Health Project Update. World Bank October 2002 Monthly
Operational Summary. "The purpose of the project is to
support arsenic-related public health activities of the Ministry of Health and
Family Welfare and NGOs. Contrary to a previous agreement, the Government recently indicated
that the project will be designed and implemented outside the framework of the
Health and Population Sector Program. The Government also indicated that the
project scope and content would change to a "curative" project and
that the research component would be downsized. Given the lack of a
"cure" for arsenic related health problems and the urgent need for
research in the field, these alterations along with the failure to comply with
the design framework agreement have stalled project preparation indefinitely.
The earlier scheduled Board presentation in the third quarter of FY 2003 cannot
be met. Environmental Assessment Category C. PID: BDPE76693. US$ 40.0 (IDA).
Consultants will be required. Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Bldg. 3,
Rm. 341, Dhaka 1000, Bangladesh, Tel: (880-2) 861-6979, 861-6708, 861-0469, Fax:
(880-2) 8619077, Contact: Mr. Wahid Khan, Joint Chief, Planning"

Differences
on arsenic project patched up. Daily Star (Bangladesh) 7 Oct
2002. "The government and the World Bank are likely to
sign tomorrow an agreement on extension of the $44.5 million Bangladesh Arsenic
Mitigation Water Supply Project (BAMWSP). At a meeting yesterday afternoon,
Local Government, Rural Development (LGRD) and Cooperatives Minister Abdul
Mannan Bhuiyan yesterday afternoon and the WB officials resolved that the
project should continue.... A number of 'flaws' in the project was identified,
he said. 'Some of these have already been redressed and others would be taken
care of soon.' Mannan Bhuiyan defended the government decision to change
the BAMWSP project director. 'The government has brought some major changes in
the Department of Public Health and Engineering (DPHE). There were allegations
of corruption against some officials while promotions for some others were
outstanding....'"

No
headway in talks on arsenic project funding - The Daily Star (Bangladesh), 2
Oct 2002. "There has been no development in a crucial
meeting between the government and the World Bank (WB) over the fate of the Tk
189 crore Bangladesh Arsenic Mitigation Water Supply Project (BAMWSP) that
formally ended Monday. A meeting to decide whether the WB would continue funding
the project was held yesterday afternoon between the state minister for Local
Government and Rural Development (LGRD) and WB's senior environment specialist
Paul Martin.The meeting ended without any decision on the extension of the
project. The government, however, decided to continue funding the project
from its own sources. A meeting in this regard was held with the state minister
on Monday. Bank officials in the meeting insisted that the government should
complete the listed action plans, if the project is to receive continued
funding. An anonymous source in the bank said, 'The government did not keep its
promise to reach the goals, as agreed, in the four years. So, basically we
expected an assurance from the state minister that the money this time would be
utilised as planned.'" ...

WB
pressure on ministry hindering arsenic project - UNB (Bangladesh), 2 Oct
2002. "Public Health Engineering Department officials
yesterday said World Bank's wrong policy and its unwarranted interference in
internal affairs hindered implementation of the arsenic mitigation project. They
were highly critical of the World Bank's local representative for 'unexpected
pressure' on the ministry for reinstatement of a Project Director who was
transferred. The criticism of the World Bank official came at a review
meeting on progress of the projects under the 2002-2003 Annual Development
Programme (ADP) at the conference room of the Local Government Engineering
Department. State Minister Ziaul Huq Zia presided over the meeting. Poor
management, irregularities, involving name-sake NGOs at various stages have
caused financial loss to the government as well as deprived millions of people
of arsenic-free safe water, the meeting observed. Started in July 1998,
the Tk 179 crore Bangladesh Arsenic Mitigation and Water Supply Project (BAMWSP)
was scheduled to be completed in three years. But so far only 22 percent work
has been done and Tk 9 crore out of Tk 43 crore from the government share of the
fund for the project was spent so far. Although there was target to screen
arsenic free tube well in 188 upazilas, it was done in only 42 upazilas, the
meeting noted terming the progress totally 'dissatisfactory.'..."

ADB
gathering data on arsenic contamination - The Financial Express
(Bangladesh), 27 Sep 2002. "A water resources
specialist of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) Thursday said that the bank was
currently studying and gathering information relating to the arsenic
contamination in the underground water of Bangladesh. 'ADB is yet to initiate
any programme to assist Bangladesh in mitigating arsenic problem. We, the ADB,
require better understanding of this problem in this regard,' ADB water
resources specialist Wouter Lincklaen Arriens told the newsmen. The
five-day-long Asia-Pacific Regional Consultation Workshop on Water and Poverty
concluded Thursday. Bangladesh Water Resources Planning Organisation (WARPO) and
Brac jointly organised the workshop with support from the ADB and the
governments of the Netherlands and Denmark...."

Poison in the
Well. Radio Netherlands, based on a report by Sakil Faizullah, 26
September 2002

Bangladeshis
take British scientists to court over arsenic in drinking water. By
Robert Verkaik Legal Affairs Correspondent The Independent (UK 12 Aug
2002). "A group of Bangladeshis has begun legal proceedings at the
High Court in London against British scientists over allegations that they
failed to prevent arsenic poisoning of thousands of people. In a writ
lodged this week, the Bangladeshi villagers claim that the British Geological
Survey (BGS) was negligent in work it did in central and eastern Bangladesh in
1992 to assess toxicity after aid programmes paid for sinking new
wells...."

IDA
to provide $40m to fight arsenic. BSS (Bangladesh) 11 Aug 2002.
"Bangladesh will receive 40 million US dollars from International
Development Agency (IDA), a World Bank Group member, for arsenic mitigation
under a public health project to be undertaken from next year. The Appraisal
date of the Arsenic Public Health Project (APHP), which will cost 45 million
dollars, has been fixed on March 25 next year when the Bank is due to approve
the project. The fund comes in the form of lending, IDA officials said. The
objective of the APHP is to assist Bangladesh in reducing the incidence and
prevalence of diseases caused by arsenic contamination of drinking water and
strengthen national capacity to address public health aspects of arsenic in the
long term, including the capacity for surveillance, monitoring and
evaluation. The IDA sources said the project would seek to prevent new
cases of arsenicosis and treat those already affected. The strategies included
behaviour change communication to educate the general people about arsenic
contamination of drinking water, its health effects, means to avoid exposure to
the disease and the facts about realistic treatment options. The project
also aims at enhancing health sector capacity for the surveillance, prevention,
diagnosis, and treatment of arsenic-related diseases along with counselling of
patients, promotion of research on prevalence, incidence and treatment to enable
sound public health planning and intervention, development of patient management
tools. The IDA officials said the strategies would be developed into four
project components while the project would be managed as an integral part of the
Health and Population Sector Programme (HPSP), and will complement arsenic
mitigation activities underway within the IDA- financed Bangladesh Arsenic
Mitigation Water Supply Project (BAMWSP). The project, however, will not
include water testing or provision of drinking water alternatives, as these
activities are being overseen by Ministry of Local Government and covered under
BAMWSP and numerous local NGO programmes...."

Water
filter set to save lives. By Alistair Lawson, BBC correspondent in
Dhaka, 14 Jul 2002. 'A Bangladeshi professor is due to
formally launch a new water filter on Sunday, which its backers say will save
millions of lives around the world. The filter, which contains a mixture of
crushed bricks and ferrous sulphate heated together, will be showcased at the
world conference on arsenic poisoning in the United States. It is specifically
designed to extract arsenic and lead from millions of tube wells all over the
country. Supporters of the filter say it could prove to be a major breakthrough
in the battle against arsenic poisoning....

'"About a year and a half ago, a professor came into my
office and asked if I could help him, and I said 'certainly, I'll try',"
said academic David Nunley. Professor Fakhrul Islam then told David Nunley,
of the non-governmental organisation International Development Enterprises,
about the water filter and asked for his help in its promotion....

'The filter has been invented by a Bangladeshi scientist for
Bangladeshis, only costs around $3, and can supply enough drinking water every
day for a family of four. So highly acclaimed is the invention that the United
Nations is helping to organise a campaign that will distribute the filter to
every village in the country....

'Already, the filter has been introduced on a trial basis to
villages across the country. For women like Koli, the affect has been
remarkable. "The people in our village know this filter can save their
lives. Many people who had the first signs of arsenic poisoning have now been
cured," she said.'

Local
arsenic testkit developed - The Daily Star (Bangladesh), 3 Jul 2002. "A
local pharmaceutical company has developed a cost-effective, user- friendly
arsenic field test kit. This was claimed by the manufacturer of the kit, General
Pharmaceutical Ltd (GPL), at a press conference in the city yesterday. The
kit, containing various reagents, chemicals and outfit for testing the presence
of arsenic concentration in tubewell water or any sample of drinking water, is
the first of its kind developed using local technology. The kit, an
improved version of its older model, has been recently developed and can test
one hundred samples on the site wherever the tubewell is located and the result
is instantly given. 'The lowest range of arsenic, the kit can test, is 10
parts per billion (ppb) and the highest is 3,000 ppb and each test will roughly
cost Tk 22 to 25,' said Mir Zaki Azam Chowdhury, marketing manager of GPL.
He said each kit will cost around Tk 2,300 compared to imported portable kits
whose cost range is Tk 2,800 and above.... The test takes just 20 minutes,
using a pretreated cotton wool to overcome any sulfide interference. Exposure to
chemical reaction is minimised.... 'The advantage of the kit is that it
has only two steps for testing water samples and unlike the previous model where
liquid acid was used, the new kit has solid acid to avoid any risk of spillage
or damage to skin while testing,' said Dr Haq.

Arsenic
project dumped? - The Independent (Bangladesh), 28 Jun 2002. "A
US$ 40 million International Development Association (IDA) loan for an arsenic
mitigation project has run into rough weather. In the absence of any regular
department or agency to take its responsibility, the project has turned into a
veritable orphan, informed sources told The Independent yesterday. Over
the last four years, the Arsenic Mitigation Project has succeeded in spending
only about five per cent of its fund, that too mostly in the form of office
rent, staff salary among others, as there was no drive for field work....
The BAMWSP was to undertake surveys to properly identify the problems and viable
safe water alternatives in about 200 upazilas out of 265 that were identified as
hot spots in respect of arsenic contamination. Another 45 upazilas were
earmarked for work by the Department of Public Health Engineering (DPHE) and the
Unicef (United Nations Children's Fund), 15 by the World Vision and eight by the
Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA). Work in these upazilas
progressed well, but the nearly 200 upazilas directly under the BAMWSP remained
uncared for.... Informed sources told The Independent that Unicef and DPHE
have completed the screening of all tubewells in the 45 upazilas earmarked for
them, but did not have the funds to initiate testing all tubewells in the rest
of the country. Nor do they have the mandate to do so until some changes are
made in the BAMWSP. The sources said that because of non-utilisation of
the US$ 40 million IDA loan, donors are refusing to commit fresh money to any
organisation on the plea that those willing to work for arsenic mitigation can
make use of the unutilised funds. But for all practical purposes it is not
available to others. An official with experience in field work lamented,
'We would have been better placed for support from donors had there been no
unutilised IDA funds for the arsenic mitigation project.' Lack of work
during the last four years might have brought many people taking arsenic
contaminated water to the brink of arsenicosis, the first stage of arsenic-
related ailments. They could be cured simply by ensuring the supply of
arsenic-free safe water.... According to Unicef officials, it costs around
US$1 to test each tubewell. Based on this costing they might need barely US$ 8
million to test all the tube wells now in service."

53.84pc
tubewells sealed off. BSS (Bangladesh), 26 Jun 2002. "As
many as 554,081 tube wells representing 53.84 per cent of the total 1,028,137
surveyed so far in 61 districts have already been sealed off due to arsenic
contamination. Minister for LGRD and Cooperatives Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan said this
while replying to a question from Golam M Siraj of BNP from Bogra in the Jatiya
Sangsad Tuesday. 'The government has undertaken steps to sink arsenic-free tube
wells in those areas to supply pure drinking water among the common people,' he
said."

Ceramic
filters - effective household option for bacteria-free water. Source
Water And Sanitation Weekly, Issue No. 7-8, 26 Feb 2002. "USAID-funded
research has shown that the Potters for Peace (PFP) (Nicaragua) colloidal silver
impregnated ceramic filter effectively reduces bacterial indicators by 98-100%
in the laboratory. Filters as old as 7 years were tested and found to still
remove 100% of total and faecal coliform. Although results for other
contaminants were inconclusive, the ceramic filter seemed to be less effective
in removing viruses, arsenic, pesticides and volatile organic contaminants (VOCs).
The research, conducted by Daniele Lantagne, MIT Lecturer in Civil and
Environmental Engineering and Principal of Alethia Environmental in Oct-Dec
2001, concludes that, "with an education component for the users, the PFP
filter is an effective and appropriate technology that improves both water
quality and human health." This technology is being developed and
promoted in Bangladesh as well.

Bangladeshis
to sue over arsenic poisoning. News, Nature 413(6856), 11 Oct
2001. The British Geological Survey (BGS) is preparing to
defend itself against a threatened lawsuit alleging that it is partly to blame
for what has been described as the worst mass poisoning in history. The
claimants are Bangladeshi villagers who drank arsenic- contaminated water from
wells dug by the BGS during the 1980s and early 1990s. The number of claimants
could run into thousands. They intend to file a group-action suit in Britain
alleging that the BGS's failure to test the well-water for arsenic makes the
agency responsible for their poisoning. On legal advice, BGS officials
declined to be interviewed about the allegations. But in a statement, the BGS
vigorously denies culpability: "Any legal claims, which we regard as wholly
misconceived, will be resisted." The suit is being prepared by Leigh,
Day and Co., a London- based law firm that specializes in this type of case.
Some researchers fear that the threat of such suits may deter scientists from
working on aid projects in the developing world.

Telefilm on Arsenic
Poisoning - Bangladesh. Communication Initiative website, 15 September
2001. Summary: The Asian Development Bank has given a grant
to the Bangladesh NGO, FEMCOM, to produce a television film to raise awareness
about arsenic poisoning, its symptoms and how it can be prevented. The project
involves production of 5 25-minute episodes of a telefilm entitled, "Water
is Life, Water is Death." The final product will be broadcast on TV and
disseminated to community groups and NGOs.

Taka
two crore [USD 360,000] Swedish grant for arsenic mitigation - BSS
(Bangladesh), 29 May 2001. Article on funding for an new
ICDDR, B-led project, Arsenic in Tubewell Water and Health Consequences, to
begin 1 Jun 2001. The project will focus on epidemiological research
and mitigation in ICDDR,B's Matlab research area in Chandpur district. Project
partners will include Linkoping University and Karolinska Institute in Sweden
and BRAC in Bangladesh.

A
Provision on Arsenic in Water -- in Bangladesh - Washington Post (USA) 21
May 2001. "Tucked away in last week's $8.2 billion
State Department authorization bill was a sense of the Congress resolution
concerning arsenic standards for drinking water -- but in this case, water in
Bangladesh."

Adda model
can be followed to remove arsenic from tubewell water - Bangladesh
Observer, 12 May 2001. With assistance of the [The BUET-UNU
arsenic mitigation] project ... 16 families of Adda [are using a] red bucket,
one packet of chemicals supplied by BUET-UNU project, heaps of cow dung and
sands and two simple plastic taps ... to filter the water free from arsenic....

Health,
socio-economic condition worsened due to arsenic contamination - Bangladesh
Observer, 11 May 2001. Speakers at a [day-long seminar
"Arsenic Pollution in Bangladesh" organised by Comilla Rotary Club]
held at Comilla Diabetic Hospital auditorium told that health and socio-economic
problem from arsenic in drinking water have already worsened.... Till January
1999, a total of 30,209 water samples were tested by DPHE in 61 districts where
7,192 samples have shown arsenic concentration more than the allowable limit
(0.05 mg/1)....

Arsenic:
Contaminated Water In Asia Puts Millions At Risk - UN Wire, 10 May
2001. Experts at a UN meeting ["Geology and Health:
Solving the Arsenic Crisis" convened by the UN Economic and Social
Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), in collaboration with UNICEF and
the World Health Organization] in Bangkok last week warned that arsenic is
contaminating drinking water and threatening the health of millions of people in
Asia. Thousands in Bangladesh, China and India are already suffering from
arsenic poisoning, they said during a three-day meeting which concluded last
Friday. The experts called for the establishment of a regional ESCAP
center for the exchange of information and the prevention of arsenic poisoning
in the affected countries (UN Newservice, 9 May). The 62 experts also called for
detailed surveys, which "can provide important information to avoid
contaminated water sources altogether" (ESCAP release, 9 May).

Thousands passing days amid arsenic fear, 15 die of arsenic related diseases
- Bangladesh Observer 20 Apr 2001. ... According to DPHE there are 35000
hand pump tubewells in the district. Out of the total, 1013 hand pump tubewells were surveyed by DPHE Meherpur and more than 80 per cent
were found to be arsenic contaminated above 0.05% mg/1...[A] way of detecting and removing arsenic easily from the
contaminated water with a minimum cost by using herbal was invented by one young promising researcher Jaharul Islam of village Amjhupi under
Sadar Upazila of the district. A total of 500 hand pump tubwells of different villages of the district had been tested by Jaharul Islam
applying the herbal method which were later tested by the indigenous and foreign experts including the DPHE and NGOs applying the modern kit
method ... The young inventor told that after applying the herbal in the water, no change
would be visible if it is not arsenic contaminated. On the other hand, arsenic contaminated water would become coloured like light-rosy, rosy-
brown, deep brown, violet and chocolate as per rate of arsenic contamination....
His latest invention is the arsenic removal plant using the ultra violet ray of solar power and with the pipe. He claimed that Taka 8 thousand is
good enough to set up a home based arsenic removal plant.

STAR filter
provides arsenic free water to villagers - Residents of Golbahar village in
Chandpur take to new technology - Daily Star (Bangladesh) 21 Apr 2001.
Experts yesterday inspected the Stevens Technology for Arsenic Remove
(STAR) filter project, a simple, cheap and user-friendly method to remove arsenic from tube well water
... The technique has been approved by the Technical Advisory Group, which is under the National Steering Committee on Arsenic.
... Earth Identity Project (EIP), a non-government organisation (NGO) introduced the technology in the village with technical assistance from
Stevens Institute of Technology (SIT) of New Jersey, USA....During [the] process two milligrams of iron powder with other chemicals
are mixed with about 20 litres of arsenic contaminated water in a bucket. The iron powder dissolves and absorbs the arsenic molecules with in two
minutes. The water is then filtered through a highly absorptive common sand filling one third of another bucket with a hole at the bottom. The
arsenic-free water passes to the container through a tube, connected with the hole. The arsenic containing particles remain in the bucket as those
cannot pass through the sand. The whole process takes about 20 minutes. The initial cost of the filter is around
Tk 2000, which includes the cost of buckets, buckets, tube and the iron mixture. The yearly cost of
for filtering arsenic contaminated water is only Tk. 140 for a family of five....

Implementation of a 4.9 million dollar 'Rapid Assessment Programme'
starts next week to test pipeline water in 100 municipalities in the country to detect presence of arsenic. The Department of Public Health
and Engineering (DPHE) will implement the programme within this year in cooperation with the Bangladesh Arsenic Mitigation Water Supply Project
(BAMWSP). The programme has been undertaken on an a emergency basis following a Daily Star report on April 5 that high level arsenic-contaminated water
was being supplied in Chapainawabganj municipality since long. Presence of high level (0.2 mg/L) arsenic was detected in pipeline water in the
municipality in 1998 but the authorities concerned kept it a secret, the report had said.

EPA
To Propose Withdrawal Of Arsenic In Drinking Water Standard; Seeks Independent
Reviews - Washington Post 22 Mar 2001. "U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency Administrator Christie Whitman announced today that EPA will propose to
withdraw the pending arsenic standard for drinking water that was issued on
January 22. The rule would have reduced the acceptable level of arsenic in water
from 50 parts per billion to 10 ppb. EPA will seek independent reviews of both
the science behind the standard and of the estimates of the costs to communities
of implementing the rule. A final decision on withdrawal is expected after the
public has an opportunity to comment."

Providing
clean water: lessons from Bangladesh - Large parts of the world face an
unwelcome choice between arsenic and micro-organisms - Editorial, British
Medical Journal, 17 March 2001 (2001;322:626-627). "The
people of Bangladesh are being slowly poisoned. Although the world has known
this since 1998, the full implications are only just being realised. Up to 57
million of Bangladesh's 130 million inhabitants are drinking water that contains
harmful concentrations of arsenic. The tragedy is twofold: it was a well
intentioned public health measure that caused the problem in the first place,
and there are no easy solutions. Discussion at a meeting in January
between the Department for International Development, the British Geological
Survey, and non-governmental organizations emphasised the difficulties of
reaching a workable long term solution...."

Heavy
Metal: Arsenic Is An Endocrine Disruptor, Environmental News Network 2001.
"Researchers at Dartmouth College have discovered that arsenic may trigger
endocrine disruption. The findings, published in the journal Environmental
Health Perspectives, may offer important information on how arsenic causes a
variety of the diseases to which it has been linked. 'This is unlikely to be the
only mechanism underlying diseases associated with low-level arsenic exposure,
but we expect it will be an important contributor,' said Joshua Hamilton, lead
author of the study.

Arsenic
And Endocrines - New Study Suggests Disruption, EHPNet 2001. "...
The current study [in EHP 109:245-251] follows up on previous research that
found that arsenic affects expression of the well-characterized
phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase gene in rat liver cancer cells, reducing its
responsiveness to hormone signals."

UK-Based
Body To Move Court For Justice To Arsenic Victims - The Independent
(Bangladesh), 23 Feb
2001. "The Bangladesh International Action Network (BIAN), an England-based
non-political organisation set up recently will seek justice from both domestic
and international courts for the people of Bangladesh dying from arsenic
poisoning."

Arsenic
Triggers Flood Of Free Radicals - Reuters Health, 23 Feb 2001.
"Arsenic's cancer-causing properties may stem from the production of
DNA-damaging particles called free radicals, researchers report. The finding
supports the use of antioxidants such as vitamin C and vitamin E, which mop up
free radicals, in cancer prevention. 'Having a better understanding of how
arsenic causes gene mutations and cancers provides a means to design
interventions both in the treatment as well as in the prevention (of cancer),'
Dr. Tom Hei from Columbia University in New York told Reuters Health. Hei and
associates studied the effects of arsenic on cells grown in the laboratory. They
report their results in the February 13th issue of the journal Proceedings of
the National Academy of Sciences."

Free
Radicals Mediate Arsenic's Harmful Effects - Columbia News 15 Feb
2001. "'This piece of research provides the
first clear-cut evidence that an environmental carcinogen acts
predominantly through a free-radical pathway,' says Hei ... professor of
radiation oncology and public health at the Center for Radiological
Research at Columbia's College of Physicians and Surgeons.... The study,
which also involved P&S dermatology researchers and researchers at
Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Colorado State University, showed
that cells cultured in the laboratory sharply increased their free radical
production within five minutes of being exposed to an arsenic compound.
The compound, sodium arsenite -- the main toxic form of arsenic in the
environment -- also boosted the rate of mutations among the cells.
Mutations are a key step in cancer development. The mutation rate shot up
still higher when researchers added a chemical that reduced the cells'
production of natural antioxidants. This was consistent with previous
research suggesting that antioxidants can protect cells from
arsenic-induced genetic damage." See also the Liu
et al. 2001 paper itself.

Quest For
Finding Causes Of Arsenic Contamination - Daily Star (Bangladesh), 3 Feb 2001.
"Experts on a five-year research programme, financed by the Columbia
University of the United States and formally launched last month, are confident
of identifying the cause of arsenic contamination of groundwater in
Bangladesh."

Hooghly
To Quench Arsenic Zone Thirst, Telegraph India 12 May 2000. On
plans to "supply drinking water from the Hooghly to the arsenic-affected
areas on the southern fringes of Calcutta and a large part of South
24-Parganas."

Arsenic-removing
filter found successful [removed from online archive]. The
Independent (Bangladesh),
Internet Edition 14 Aug 99.
"The field level test of a low cost and handy arsenic removing disposable
filter, developed recently to supply contamination free safe drinking water,
was found successful here on August 12, reports BSS. The test of the "Arsen:
X Filter" was done with the water of a hand tube well at a village in sadar
thana, which contains more than 1 and less than 0.5 milligram arsenic in
per liter water, and after the test it was found 0.0 milligram or undetectable
in the water.... Chief of "Bangladesh Water for All" Tanzim Ahmad, son
of Bangladesh's first Prime Minister Tajuddin Ahmad, earlier placed this
sophisticated but very simple technology, developed by a US base[d] company,
before the LGRD Ministry for removing arsenic from drinking water of thousands
of tube-wells across the country."

Group
may sue Unicef over arsenic well-water. S China Morning Post, Tues
20 July 1999, by Arshad Mahmud in Dhaka [article has been dropped from online
archive]. "A newly formed organisation
is threatening to sue Unicef for compensation on behalf of the millions
of unsuspecting victims of arsenic poisoning who are slowly dying in Bangladesh.
The Forum for Arsenic Patients has accused the UN body of aiding what experts
say could be the biggest mass poisoning in human history..."

Surface water
not always the answer to Bangladesh arsenic pollution problem [no longer
online], Duke
Univ. News 3 Jun 99. "In a preliminary study of
arsenic pollution in Bangladesh drinking water sources, Duke University
hydrologists have found evidence that surface waters can also be contaminated
with the substance. Thus, say the scientists, abandoning polluted wells in favor
of ponds and surface reservoirs, as is advocated by the World Health
Organization (WHO) and the Bangladeshi government, will not always solve the
problem. "Our analyses found that surface waters as well as ground waters
have arsenic in excess of WHO standards, especially in areas of significant
irrigation," said associate professor Stuart Rojstaczer, who led the study.
"This finding means that groups advocating surface water over ground water
must be very cautious. They should not assume a priori that arsenic levels in
the surface waters will be negligible."

Bangladesh
offered low-cost arsenic solution.Environmental
News Network 5 May 1999. "Two researchers from the Center for
Environmental Studies at Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, N.J.,
have come up with a low-cost, easy-to-implement method of removing arsenic
from water that could serve an immediate need in Bangladesh. A system
will cost less than $5 a year for a family and may be as little as $2 a
year, said Dr. Xiaoguang Meng and Dr. George P. Korfiatis, who spent four
years developing the process. The process uses direct coprecipitation
and iron-oxide based coagulants. It involves adding inexpensive and readily-available
chemicals to well water, mixing it up and then straining the water through
a sand filter. In March, Meng field tested the system in Bangladesh
at the invitation of Dr. Rash Ghosh, executive director of the International
Symposia on Reducing the Impact of Toxic Chemicals in Asian and Developing
Countries. In all but one case, the arsenic levels were reduced below what
is considered acceptable for Bangladesh as well as the United States. The
remaining test site could have easily been brought within acceptable levels
with the addition of more chemicals according to Meng. "There's nothing
mythical about it," said Korfiatis, adding that the process is quite standard
in terms of water treatment but has an enhanced value -- the use of simple
products that are readily available to the Bangladesh citizens including two-liter soda bottles.

Bangladesh/India
- international team to combat arsenic poisoning, No. 14-15, 19 April 1999
[no longer online], Source Water And Sanitation
News Service. Source is a joint endeavour of the Water Supply
and Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC) and IRC International Water
and Sanitation Centre.

International
Team to Combat Arsenic Poisoning.Environment
News Service, 5 April 1999 [no longer online]. "Australian scientists have launched
an international rescue bid to save millions of families in Bangladesh
and India from chronic arsenic poisoning caused by their drinking water.
. . . Dr. Naidu has just received the go-ahead from the Australian Centre
for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) to assemble a team of researchers
to tackle the problem. The team will include CSIRO, Ballarat University,
Kalyani University in India and Dhaka University in Bangladesh. . . ."

Arsenic
levels in drinking water too high, study finds.Environmental
News Network 25 March 1999. "Drinking water in the United States may
have arsenic levels that are high enough to pose a significant risk of
cancer, the American Water Works Association said Tuesday. A study
conducted by a panel of scientists from the National Research Council and
released Tuesday prompted AWWA to call on the EPA to revise current standards
for arsenic levels in drinking water. The report concluded that the
allowable level of arsenic in drinking water is too high for public health
protection and the standard should be lowered from 50 parts per billion
to 10 ppb. The international standard for arsenic in tap water is
10 micrograms per liter, five times tougher than the U.S. requirement,
which dates back to 1942 and has not been changed despite a 1974 directive
from Congress to strengthen the standard. AWWA says utility costs
to lower arsenic levels could reach $1 billion according to a 1997 study."

Bangladesh:
one pond with arsenic-free water in each village. Source Weekly 1 March
1999 [no longer online]

Millions
in Bangladesh face slow poisoning from arsenic-contaminated water.
2 Dec 1998, by Liz Mantell. World Socialist Web Site. "The
international media rarely touches on the misery and suffering endured
by the hundreds of millions of people in the so-called Third World who
lack access to the basic necessities of life--clean water, adequate food,
clothing and housing. Only when malnutrition turns to famine and diseases
become epidemics do reports begin to appear, usually written in sensational
but superficial terms. In Bangladesh, a huge social disaster is developing
that has received virtually no news coverage. Millions of people in rural
areas are being slowly but surely poisoned as they drink from water supplies
contaminated with small but nevertheless potentially fatal quantities of
arsenic."

Safe to
drinkSafe to
drink, 28 Mar 98, New
Scientist
[access requires registration with www.newscientist.com
- 7 day free trial available]. "A simple filter
based on sand and iron filings could prevent millions of people being
poisoned by the arsenic in their drinking water. Nikolaos Nikolaidis,
professor of environmental engineering at the University of Connecticut,
has created a filter that converts almost all the arsenic in water into
insoluble compounds...."

Bangladesh
arsenic an invitation to catastrophe. Environmental
News Network 23 Mar 1998 by Arnab Neil Sengupta. "As Bangladesh
faces the world's worst arsenic-poisoning crisis, international agencies
are facing flak for helping sink the bulk of the 3 million tubewells which
now provide 95 percent of the country's drinking water. What they did not
know when they launched their tubewell-installation programs in the early
'70s was that deep in the alluvial sediments of the Ganges delta lurked
arsenic bound up in mineral layers."

Filter
cleans arsenic-tainted water. Environmental
News Network story now at CNN website. 18 Mar 98. "A filter developed by University of
Connecticut engineers may help end a worldwide problem of arsenic-contaminated
groundwater. Nik P. Nikolaidis, an associate professor of civil and
environmental engineering, and colleagues in the university's Critical
Technologies Program have developed a filter that removes arsenic from
water."

Arsenic
in the water (18 Feb 98) and On
the poison trail (25 Feb 98), two part series in The
Guardian by Fred Pearce. This fairly scathing pair of articles evidently
caused a bit of an uproar in the UK. [These have been dropped from the Guardian
online archive.]

Arsenic Information Page. "Joint initiative
of the CRCWMPC and the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO)."

Arsenic
Section of the
excellent Guidelines
for Canadian Drinking Water Quality - Supporting Documentation [as a 54kb Adobe
.pdf file, last update August 1992]. The
supporting documents "... represent the technical or scientific supporting
documentation used by the [Canadian] Federal-Provincial Subcommittee on
Drinking Water in developing and approving guidelines for contaminants
found in drinking water. The documents are criteria summaries prepared
by the staff of the Environmental Health Directorate of Health Canada,
or their consultants, following the critical evaluation of available information
on exposure, health effects, analytical methodology and treatment technology
for each contaminant. These reviews are not exhaustive, but present a brief
summary of background data and information considered to be critical for
the derivation of the guidelines."

Arsenic
Section(draft as of Feb 2003) of the WHO Guidelines for
Drinking Water Quality. Third edition, 2003. Rather
unimpressive. Maybe the comments will improve it?

Case
Studies in Environmental Medicine: Arsenic Toxicity. U.S.
Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) Oct 2000. "The
goal of the CSEM is to increase the primary care provider's knowledge of
hazardous substances in the environment and to aid in the evaluation of
potentially exposed patients.

"After completion of this educational activity, the
reader should be able to discuss the major exposure route for arsenic,
describe two potential environmental and occupational sources of arsenic
exposure, give two reasons why arsenic is a health hazard, describe three
factors contributing to arsenic toxicity, identify evaluation and
treatment protocols for persons exposed to arsenic, and list two sources
of information on arsenic.Continuing
education credit is available free of charge!"

WHO Supercourse on Health,
Environment, and Sustainable Development"The Supercourse is an Internet-based
distance learning for students who are interested in the important links
of Health and Environment in the Sustainable Development context. It can
be utilized for training your students. You can contribute to the Supercourse
as a reviewer, lecture developer, or translator as well."

USEPA resources

Due to the push to
upgrade the US drinking water standard for arsenic, there is a lot of arsenic
info coming out of and related to USEPA. See the Arsenic
in Drinking Water webpage.

India

Arsenicosis and deteriorating groundwater quality - unfolding
crisis in central-east Indian region [MP]: "This paper reports, for the first time, the appearance of arsenic and
chemical extent of the deterioration in groundwater quality of the Rajnandgaon
district of MP. Out of about 90 samples analysed so far in the lab, we
have found 14 sites contaminated with arsenic. Total arsenic concentration
obtained in the analyses range between 0.92 to 0.01 mg/L. The number of
people at risk is about 10,000. The symptoms observed and the age distribution
of patients is presented. The correlation study of the arsenic has shown
neither a strong positive correlation with the iron concentration nor a
strong negative correlation with pH. These results testify the urgent need
to study the source profile and the geo-chemical reactions responsible
for the occurrence of arsenic." Abstract of paper submitted 28 Dec
98 to Current Science, Bangalore India; authors Piyush
K. Pandey, Ram Narayan Khare, Ramesh Sharma, Santosh Kumar Sar and
Madhurima Pandey, Bhilai Institute of Technology, Durg, 491002, India).

Nepal

U.N.
Experts, NGO Warn Of Contamination In Nepalese Wells. Source: UN Wire,
15 Jan 2003, by way of Source Weekly No. 3-4, 27 January
2003. "Nearly half of Nepal's 22.3 million
people are at risk of contracting diseases caused by arsenic-contaminated
drinking water, according to a four-year study by a nongovernmental
organisation and experts from UNICEF and the World Health organisation
(WHO). Tests on about 10% of the 200,000 shallow tubewells in the
country's Terai region, where 47% of the population lives, indicate
arsenic levels above WHO standards, said Prasant Chaudhary of the NGO, the
Public Health Concern Center....

"Nepalese Health Department official Ram Sharan
Duwadi said villagers in the region, 90% of whom get their water from the
wells, often complain of dizziness and hearing problems. He added that
because such incidents are comparatively recent, "most people are
ignorant about the matter."

"The measurements in the affected areas of Nepal
have revealed concentrations almost double the highest measured in
Bangladesh. A National Arsenic Steering Committee (NASC) was formed in the
beginning of year 2001, and shortly after the Non Government
Organisations' Informal Group for Arsenic Mitigation (NIGAM) was
formed."

USA

Arsenic page of the USEPA Drinking Water Standards
Program. "The information contained at this site and
[the external sites to which it links] provide a history of EPA's rulemaking efforts related to arsenic and the
various technical and factual information associated with those efforts. EPA is reviewing the rule, and this site will be updated to provide more
information about this review as it becomes available."

NRDC
to sue over arsenic, April(?) 2001. "The Natural
Resources Defense Council (NRDC) announced it will sue to challenge the Bush
administration's suspension of the new arsenic-in-tap-water standard and
right-to-know requirements. The NRDC said that the Bush administration's
suspension of the arsenic protections is scientifically unwarranted, illegal and
flies in the face of what the administration concedes is 'overwhelming' public
opposition expressed by thousands of comments. 'The Bush administration's
decision ... to suspend the new arsenic-in-tap-water rule in the face of what it
calls "overwhelming" public opposition is stunningly arrogant and
wrongheaded,' said Erik D. Olson, an NRDC senior attorney."

US EPA Calls For
Urgent Review, April 2001. Details of US EPA's call for urgent review of
their arsenic standard and commentary from the Wall Street Journal.

maps from
the Center for Applied Environmental Research (CAER) The University of
Michigan-Flint University Outreach

Montana USA: Madison
and Upper Missouri River Arsenic."One element Yellowstone
Park's geothermal waters pick up is arsenic, and that accounts for the Madison
River's high arsenic concentration [which is[ highest near the park. [G]round
water's arsenic is highest at Three Forks where the Jefferson and Gallatin
rivers join the Madison to form the Missouri. Ground water arsenic near Three
Forks varies from [50 parts per billion] to more than three times [that]."

Oregon USA:

Ground
water tests out with high arsenic levels [no longer online]. The Oregonian, 17 Aug 1999.

Summary of Willamette Basin Ground-Water Study.

1992 Willamette Basin Report, Oregon Water Res. Dept. "Identifying
areas prone to natural ground-water quality problems. High salinity and
high
arsenic concentrations are the two major natural water-quality problems
in parts of the Willamette Basin.

Utah USA: Do
Utahns Drink Too Much Arsenic? [no longer online] Salt Lake Tribune, 30 July 1999. "Millard County residents who drank water containing elevated levels of
arsenic were more than twice as likely to die from one type of heart disease
as other Utahns, a new study has shown. The research, done for the
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, also showed a moderate increase in
the rate of prostate cancer among men exposed to this naturally occurring
element. However, the study also found that residents of the
western Utah county had lower rates of several other diseases, prompting
at least one researcher to ask whether there might be an overall benefit
to having a little arsenic in the diet."

Washington USA:

Dangerous
level of arsenic in water supply,Seattle Daily Journal of Commerce,
Aug 1997. "A recent analysis of six public drinking water supplies in western
Washington detected arsenic levels substantially exceeding the applicable
human health water quality standard. The samples exceeded the 0.018 ppb
standard by as little as a factor of 2 to as much as 900 times the standard.
Future analysis of additional samples will extend this range. None of the
samples analyzed met the human health standard."

USD60 million cleanup of 450 acre arsenic contaminated old smelter
site in Everett

Arsenic
in drinking water in Vietnam. AusAID, March 2002 (draft). Abstract:
The occurrence of arsenic in drinking water sourced from groundwater is emerging
as a problem in Vietnam, and other Mekong countries. In Bangladesh and West
Bengal, arsenic has typically been found in tubewells at considerable depths. In
Vietnam and other Mekong countries the arsenic occurs in both deep and shallow
groundwater. The paper canvasses options for addressing the problem in Vietnam.

Arsenic in other media (besides water)

Miscellaneous topics

"Arsenic
and old brakes," article in The Economist about the discover of
the Chinese brake fern's ability to accumulate large amounts of arsenic.
This article is based on research findings published in a Nature
article.

Arsenic
and Ayurved. Treleaven J, Meller S, Farmer P, Birchall D, Goldman J,
Piller G. Leukemia and Lymphoma 10:343-5, 1993. Case reports. [Full
text of webpage is the following abstract:] "Results: This paper
reports on a visit to India to review medical records on patients with
ALL, AML and chronic myeloid leukemia. The arsenic containing herbal
medicine offered was effective in controlling blood counts and spleen
size in chronic myeloid leukemia. No reference on the ages of this
subset though. They did report on a case of a child with an unexpected
recovery after the second relapse by using Ayurveda."